Vehicle Registration fees entered Turbotax, but it still shows as $0 on the “Deductions & Credits” page.

[chiu939]

I have entered my Vehicle Registration fees in Turbotax, but it still show as $0 on the “Deductions & Credits.” What is the reason? Please advise.

[ThomasM125]

The vehicle registration fees are itemized deductions which only benefit you if the total of them is more than your standard deduction. So, it may be that you are taking the standard deduction on your tax return. The standard deduction for most single filers is $12,550 and for most married-joint filers is $25,100. It includes things such as state taxes (up to $10,000), contributions and medical expenses over 7.5% of your adjusted gross income. If you are using the standard deduction on your return, then the vehicle registration fees may not show as they are not being deducted.

You can view your form 1040 while working in the online version of TurboTax by following these steps:

While working on your return in the Federal section of TurboTax:

   1.  Choose the Tax Tools icon on your left menu bar

   2.  Tools

   3.  View Tax Summary

   4.  Choose the Preview my 1040 on your left menu bar

Your standard or itemized deduction would appear on line 12(a) of your form 1040.

[chiu939]

I use stander deduction last year and this year. Vehicle Registration Fees was deductible last year, but not this year.

[Cynthiad66]

Vehicle registration fees are deductible both years but if you are using the Standard Deduction it does not matter because the standard deduction is a fixed amount based on your filing status.

The deduction is probably lurking in the details of the return, but because you are using the Standard Deduction it is not being listed.

[PrincessEJM]

when I get to the summary it shows the comparison for last year (2020) and this year (2021).   If I'm reading my summary correctly, it shows standard deduction was used for both years BUT, allowed the registration fees last year but not this year.  Here's an example of what I'm seeing:

                                                                             2020                                     2021

Standard deduction                                       24,800                                 25,100 (married filing joint on both years)

Educator Expense                                                250                                       250

IRA contributions                                               2000                                    2000

Vehicle Registration Fees                                    850                                      0

Charitable contributions                                      n/a                                     251

Rest of the summary looks normal/right but this part.....the charitable contributions is more than 251 but I' not sure why it's only only allowing the $251 for that either.  

[JamesG1]

Is the charitable cash contribution of $251 being reported on line 12a of the Federal 1040 tax return?  You may view the Federal 1040 at Tax Tools / Tools / View Tax Summary / Preview my 1040.

Federal 1040 line 12b Charitable Cash Contributions under CARES Act can be entered or corrected at either:

• Federal Taxes / Deductions & Credits / I'll Choose What I Want To Work On / Charitable Donations / Donations to Charity in 2021, or 
• at the screen Charitable Cash Contributions under CARES Act immediately following Based on what you just told us, the Standard Deduction is best for you.

But the second entry appears to produce better results.

@PrincessEJM

[kvlandau]

This is occurring for the 2022 tax year as well... My car registration shows up for 2021, but not 2022 in that same page that original poster copied/pasted.

[DaveF1006]

Please refer to ThomasM125 and Cynthiad66 responses above. The reason why your deduction might not be showing up is that you are claiming a standard deduction this year because you do not have enough itemized deductions to claim. Car registration is an itemized deduction item thus will not show up in the deductions and credit page.

You can verify if you receive the standard deduction by doing what ThomasM125 suggests and that is:

   1.  Choose the Tax Tools icon on your left menu bar

   2.  Tools

   3.  View Tax Summary

   4.  Choose the Preview my 1040 on your left menu bar

Your standard or itemized deduction would appear on line 12(a) of your form 1040. . The standard deduction for most single filers is $12,950 and for most married-joint filers is $25,900 and $19400 for head of household. If line 12(a) has these amounts listed, then you know you are receiving the standard deduction and why the car registration amount is not appearing in he deductions and credits page.

@kvlandau 

[T4Tax]

I have the same question as Princess above about vehicle registration fees.  On the "Here are your 2021 and 2022 Deductions and Credits" screen, I am still not understanding why the amount I entered for vehicle registration fees for 2021 taxes shows here but the amount I entered for 2022 taxes shows $0.  I am taking the standard deduction both years.  I entered my vehicle registration fees for both years.  I know they were input because I saw the amounts on the Deductions and Credits screen that gives a the 2 year comparison for all of the 11 deductions and credits sections.  I do understand that you only get the deduction for vehicle registrations fees if you itemize, but this it doesn't make sense for this screen to show my correct amount for 2021 but not for 2022 when I definitely entered them both years and took the standard deduction both years.  Does this screen indicate and error or is it not a problem since it's some type of summary screen?

[TeresaM]

You are correct, if you are taking the standard deductible, it will not have impacted your tax liability in any way.

However, in case that is different next year, the parts of registration that are deductible are taxes which are based on the value of the vehicle. Fees that are the same for each vehicle are not a tax but a fee due the state or locality.  They are not included in the federal deduction. To make it even more complicated, different states have different ways of handling this. It may be that your state does not have any fees based on the value of the vehicle. 

Click here to see a TurboTax Help article with a state-by-state breakdown of which have taxes based on the value of the vehicle. 

If this does not completely answer your question, please do let us know the state where you register the vehicle and we can better assist. 

[T4Tax]

If the amount $0 (for 2022 vehicle registration fees on my summary screen) will cause no error and have no impact on my taxes since I am taking the standard deduction, it sounds as though I should just click "continue" and move on???  I have, however, listed the vehicle registration fees the same way in previous years as I did this year.  I have lived in NC for many years, and I am only entering the correct portion (the part that is deductible) of the payment I made for each vehicle.   Again, I took the standard deduction last year (2021) and am again this year for 2022.  I entered the correct vehicle registration fees for both years.  I don't know why the summary screen "here are your 2021 and 2022 deductions and credits" lists the amount of vehicle registration fees I entered for 2021 but doesn't list the amount of vehicle registration fees I entered for 2022 (it shows $0).   Is there an explanation for this??  Should I move on anyway since I'm taking the standard deduction?

[JulieS]

Yes, since you are taking the standard deduction, you should just move on. 

What you are seeing on the deduction summary is due to changes in how the tax return data is displayed. It doesn't reflect any changes to your tax return. 

[kewh]

This is still happening in the desktop software for tax year 2024. It undermines credibility in TT calculations. Even if a taxpayer is taking the standard deduction, TT shows a year-to-year comparison of entries. Like the other people who have posted in previous years, my 2023 column shows an amount for the Car Registration Fee that I entered last year, but the 2024 column doesn't show the amount I entered this year.